MT_Sourdough

Like I have stated in other posts, I have hundreds of pounds of pb in my garage. I cast my own bullets including a few that are of my own design. I have, in particular, a 400 grain bullet that is the product of years of trial and error and was created with the dream of a buffalo hunt. So here I am with a buffalo tag for the House Rock herd and you know what I am doing? I'm spending lots of money on ammo to comply with their request to use unleaded bullets. I still get to use my 444, because Lehigh Defense just put out a 444 load with a completely new bullet. Sorry about the huge pic, but that's it. Interesting, huh? Anyways, the load the Lehigh uses is a lousy one in my opinion and it falls about 200 fps from it's claimed velocity. So I have to buy the ammo and pull the bullets just to reload them with a load I haven't developed yet. There is hardly a commercial 44 cal bullet that I haven't done the terminal ballistic testing in water and ballistic gel to know fairly well how they will perform at 444 velocities. Now the 220 gr Lehigh bullet is coming at me from left field and I don't know what to expect. Gonna need to do some more terminal ballistic tests to see how this new bullet performs. Point is, it's gonna be a lot of work for me to comply, but that's what I'll do. I won't stop using led, but I will for this hunt. I could just buy a Barnes 180 gr ammo for my 300 Win, sight it in, and make it easy, but I want to use my 444. As far as lead poisoning of carnivores is concerned, I think it answers a lifelong quandary I have had. It's about the fact that nothing would touch the thousands of gophers I shot on the ranch in Montana. Hawks and coyotes and such definitely ate gophers, but they would not go near the ones that are shot. I now believe those critters learned to avoid shot gophers for the reason of the lead, It's the only explanation I have found.

Ha,Ha, ha you jokers are so confused, you missed the fact that this is a done deal for now. Freedom won and nanny state lost.

I believe the Brooks family have completely sold Barnes to the Freedom Group. I can't say I expect it, but quality control may be compromised with Freedom Group in complete control, now. It would be par for the course to see quality control decline with Freedom Group.

30-30 - Teach her how to get close.

Be prepared for everything. The Kaibab Plateau is well over 8,000 feet in elevation. It could snow a few feet or be super hot and dry. Portable propane tent heaters will not work at that elevation, because of lack of oxygen in the air. You'll need a chainsaw if you want to use a camp stove to heat a tent and to clear roads from down fall timber after storms.

I have had a question I have been wondering a good part of my life. Ya see, I grew up on a ranch in Montana and at a fairly young age, I took on the grueling chore of shooting gophers in our hay fields. Over the years, I shot thousands of gophers (Ground Squirrels). Sometimes I'd lay those gophers out on top of gopher mounds. It was odd because the hawks, coyotes, and all other animals that eat gophers left those gophers alone. Nothing (except canabal gophers) would ever eat those gophers. After hearing the case about lead poisoning to scavengers, I think I may know why all those critters developed the behavior of avoiding gophers that have been shot. I have hundreds of pounds of lead out in my garage, mostly ingots of melted down wheel weights. I have a cast bullet that I designed for the Marlin 444 with 1/20 Ballard barrel that allows these rifles to use 400 grain cast bullets. To make a long story short, I am using copper monolithic bullets for my buffalo hunt to comply with the unleaded bullet program. As far as non-leaded bullets don't shoot well in anybody's muzzle loader, I am sure people know to remove all the ledding from their barrel before testing those unleaded bullets. As a general rule, a barrel with lead fouling will not shoot copper bullets well.

August - archery deer Nov 2 - Bison cow HouseRock herd Nov 30 - Elk Bull Rifle Unit 8 Dec - Archery deer if not successful in August Jan - Archery deer to start 2018 I am glad that I opted for bonus point for deer draw this year. This year could end up as one of the best hunting years in my life. Don't pinch me.

I just ordered another Stealth G42 NG. I want to replace my other cams until they are all Stealth G42NG cams. I bought a few cheap cameras over the years, but it's a big loss of money and time when they do not work. Plus, most of my cams sit over a small salt rock or two. The NO Glow IR lights are clearly less disturbing to the animals than the low glow varieties. The shutter on the G42NG cam is obviously still too loud, but I have yet to find a trustworthy No Glow cam that is also totally silent. Just the same, I do get pics of elk and coues deer bedding down in front of cam, so the noise can be tolerated by some of the critters.

Water levels should be good and clear after spring run off. salmon fly hatch should be done by now. Elk hair caddis top dog right now. Big wet flies under banks for Browns. Wooly worms are good on lakes. Soon, hopper season will take over by August.

It's staying east of us, CV, but we'll get ours in the this weekend.

Looks like I need to get my winter tent, stove and cargo sled back from Montana somehow. I need to figure out how to get it shipped via freight or make a quick little jaunt to Montana to get it. The tent is a 12'x12' Alaknak with vestibule. At over 8,000' elevation, a wood stove would be just what I'll need on the plateau in November and possibly December. Based on what I have determined at this point, this might be a great time to have this tag, because they intend to basically purge the herd and replace with more pure genetics from South Dakota or some where. So they'll probably be some years coming up with little to no tags while they build up the herd with new genetics. Either way, this hunt is a dream come true. I feel like God has been too kind to me this year. That much kindness can make a guy nervous..

On the 12th at 7:46 AM. Just Josh'n. I dunno.

Raymond is show up get a talk, go for ride with G&F they spin some pellets out of truck and bison come in and they tell you which 1 to shoot. Then you fill your freezer! Well, it appears I was mistaken. My tag is not the Raymond tag. Apparently, what I drew is a Limited Opportunity cow bison tag for Nov. 2 - Dec 31 in 12 A, 12B, and 13A (House Rock herd) At this moment, I am totally confused, especially since they are culling the herd this year. I mean, are there going to be many bison left by November. I know nuthin about this hunt so far.

I might be mistaken but I believe they didn't have a cow hunt to pick from this year on the Raymond herd. Only bull hunts this year. TJ Right you are. I realize now that it is not the Raymond herd, but the limited opportunity 12a, 12b, and 13 a cow tag.

Whoa!!! Buffalo for me. Raymond herd cow November-December. I know nothing about this hunt and AZ seems to have little on line info. oops. Not the Raymond herd. Looks like I have a possibility of getting a bull elk, a bison ana two deer in about a months time. I think I am seriously on system overload.

Some of you might have noticed that I have been preaching some doom and gloom in regards to this years recruitment numbers. Much of what I have seen over the last couple of months has led me to believe that this drought was being brutal on calves and fawns. Today I saw some things that allows me to have a more optimistic outlook. First, a bachelorette herd of elk came in and pushed the bachelors out at a cam sight. I don't have an actual count, but there were several cows and several calves. Those calves looked good and strong. Then I saw some antelope fawns in Paulden. That got me to thinking that a lot of the antelope are probably invading farms and rural residential areas to find their food and water. Plus, I have an area down on some low flats that I have been watching for a couple of years. In the area, there hasn't been anything moving for 3 to 4 months. That little bit of rain we got up here last week had critters scattering all over the area. I am now thinking that if our monsoons arrive on time, we might not see much long term harm from this severe drought.

I have been reluctant to go after the yotes because I am not able to take care of the hides, but I am reconsidering that logic.

You all are right, kinda. It's a Wandering Garter snake of the family of Western Terrestrial Garter Snakes. It's gotta be one of the most common types of snakes in Western US. We have the same types of snakes in Montana. Everywhere they exist, they are most commonly referred to as water snakes because they are often found in and around water and, yes, they eat fish. I went reviewed this and it my be a Checkered as previously mentioned. Either a Wandering or Checkered, scales number shapes on head may be what distinguishes which one it is, but I couldn't tell.

I agree with Sir Royal's sentiments, but I have to point out how we all seem to continuously form a circular firing line with these sorts of issues. Sir Royal points out that there is a serial camera thief operating somewhere. I am baffled how a guy comes on here to pass on that message and offer a fair warning. Suddenly, he needs to defend himself from other hunters? Is there any couth in the world today or do we just attack anybody that's willing to speak up?

Part of what fueled my thought process is seeing an elk calve with wobbly legs and then a couple hours later there's a pack of coyotes running around the same area. That happened a couple of times and left me with an ominous feeling. I was also seeing newborn antelope fawns and then I saw no fawns. Last week I found a couple dead antelope fawns along Perkinsville Rd. The combination of all that led me to feel very pessimistic about recruitment, but I am feeling more optimistic about things after today.

42 pages. I say, if the horse dies, keep beating it. How many of you have Russian accents?

Cottonwood thinks they're so cool because they are the traffic circle capital, but Chino Valley has plans to give Cottonwood a challenge to that title. They are all right for cars but totally suck for semi trucks, commercial vehicles and people who make wedding cakes.

I am bringing this thread up one more time to say that I have one of those Eureka Solo bivy tents that I will never use again. If anybody in the Prescott area wants it, you can have it.

Wow! You found a tank with water in it? Seriously now, I bet it's worse this year than most because of the limited number of water sources while we are in this drought. Cams do not help you kill an animal, at least not in the areas I hunt. They do help hunters who are in competition for the biggest rack or at least it helps them know what's out there. In the end though, that is a competition between trophy hunters, but not an aid in fair chase, man vs, the game. I am not a trophy hunter and if I knew of a great buck or bull, I'd be just as happy see it survive another year as I would to kill it. I probably spend time in the field probably 100 days a year. My cams are not on water, either. I follow trails and learn an area before I set up cams . The hardest thing about doing it away from water is it makes them harder to find again,

When I leave a blind up on public land, I have the hope that others get to use it as well. I doubt many would be that bold, but if I arrive at my blind and I found somebody in it, I'd turn around and leave it to'em. It's public land and nobody gets to claim it. I'd, perhaps, leave a note under their wiper or handlebars that would say they were using my blind and GOOD LUCK. I'd say "If you get lucky, I'd enjoy a pic". I would include my name and email. I always think about being able to share. I literally dream of being able to put a kid or disabled vet or other deserving people in a blind set up and see them get lucky on some of the nice critters that I have on cam. What I have had a major issue with is the people who do not follow the rule about not camping within 1/4 mile of a tank.